What did Americans learn from Tuesday’s election. For what it’s worth, here are some of my top takeaways.

Donald Trump is the greatest salesman of our time — and that’s a compliment. To succeed at sales you have to believe in the product, and Trump never wavered in his belief that he alone could pull off the greatest upset in modern U.S. political history.

More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than Trump. She won the popular vote. He cannot claim a mandate from the American people. He also remains deeply unpopular with the leadership of the party he now leads. They will no doubt fall in line publicly, but behind the scenes the battle for the Republican soul will continue.

Trump did not create a divided country, he simply exploited it. He now has a responsibility to unite it, but candidate Trump has made that very difficult for President-elect Trump. All candidates say things during campaigns that haunt them in office. Trump has set a new standard.

While Trump threatened to challenge the election if he lost, Clinton was gracious in defeat. Of her opponent she said, “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead.” Republicans threatened to impeach Clinton if she won, and delay filling the Supreme Court vacancy for four years if necessary.

Let’s hope the Democrats are not as petty.

Trump whipped the press. It wasn’t just pseudo news organizations like Fox and MSNBC that wore their bias on their sleeve. The mainstream press failed to recognize the Trump movement for what it was. They treated Trump as a subject of ridicule, and his supporters as uneducated deplorables. The Trump nation turned away from the traditional press and turned to social media. They talked to each other and the mainstream press wasn’t listening.

Sarah Palin is suddenly relevant again and perhaps Alaska’s most influential politician. During the campaign, Trump said that Palin could play a role in his administration if she wanted it. Politico is reporting that she’s on a short list for Interior Secretary. Palin herself has expressed interest in being Energy Secretary, but only, she says, so she can shut it down.

And finally, this stuff has got to stop. The campaign is over. America is on a new course and we’re all in it together. President-elect Trump set the right tone in his acceptance speech. He sounded presidential.

Here’s to hoping he stays on point and that his staff has hidden his Twitter account so well it will take him four years to find it.

John’s opinions are his own, and not necessarily those of Denali Media or its employees.